Network partners with Time Warner Cable for exclusive rights to televise High School football and basketball games

CLEVELAND, OH – SportsTime Ohio today announced that the network has partnered with Time Warner Cable to sign a one year television deal with the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

SportsTime Ohio will have exclusive rights to televise eight (8) football playoff games, six (6) football championship games, eight (8) boys’ basketball playoff games, four (4) boys’ basketball championship games, and four (4) girls’ basketball championship games. In addition, STO has exclusive distribution of a minimum of four (4) other OHSAA events to be determined.

SportsTime Ohio will carry these events live and tape delayed throughout Ohio. A partnership with Time Warner Cable has been forged to distribute statewide coverage of these events, including the full Cincinnati and Dayton DMAs. Through this partnership, OHSAA programming will air in all 12 DMAs in Ohio reaching 3.1 million homes. Time Warner Cable’s “Local on Demand” service will also exclusively feature the OHSAA programming so that viewers can relive the events at their leisure.

“There are so many positive aspects of this deal it is impossible to summarize them all in a sentence or two,” said Jim Liberatore, President of SportsTime Ohio, “We are able to join forces with TWC, a valued partner, we can further the Sportstime Ohio brand with interaction in our regions High Schools and we can establish an intimate connection with local communities through the excitement, rivalry and neighbor to neighbor community feel that is unique and exclusive to Highs School sports”.

In addition to these events, STO will continue to air “The High School Sports Insider,” a weekly show featuring local high school athletes, and a High School Basketball Game of the Week. STO is also the home of the Cleveland Indians, cable of the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Sate University and select OAC events.

Swerb wrote:STO has exclusive distribution of a minimum of four (4) other OHSAA events to be determined.

This should be a definite improvement.

ONN had/has a problem because they don't seem to have a concept of Ohio outside Columbus. It wasn't that the coverage wasn't good. It's that they treated NE Ohio like red-headed step children and, I understand, parts of the rest of the state had the same problem with ONN.

With STO being a sports network, they seem to understand what it takes to cover a game or match and to do so on a statewide basis. STO also should be desirous of spreading the Indians coverage across a much larger portion of the state, so this will benefit them in at least two ways.

I'm looking forward to watching the state football finals on STO. That brings me to the four "other events". I would think that the finals for baseball and softball in the spring, hockey in the winter and boys and girls soccer in the fall would seem to be the best fits for rounding out the rest of the "other events".

Also, it makes sense at a certain level to cover the state wrestling finals (that would particularly make sense in Ohio). The logistics of this event make it nearly impossible to broadcast it live, but with the stature wrestling has in this state it should warrant at least a mention in the discussion.

Cleveland: Where the Tower is Terminal and the Lake is Erie- Alex Bevan

WHAT: SportsTime Ohio’s OHSAA football playoff coverage continues this week with a Division II match up between Columbus DeSales and Canfield Friday night at 11:00pm. Mike Cairns and former OSU quarterback Justin Zwick will provide the play-by-play and color commentary. STO will televise the Division I game between Mentor and Solon live Saturday at 7:00pm. Al Pawlowski will do the play-by-play and High School analyst Greg Frey will provide color commentary with Andre Knott on the sidelines.

WHEN:

FRIDAY 11/9/07 11:00PM Columbus DeSales vs. Canfield

Replayed Saturday 11/10/07 9:00am

SATURDAY 11/10/07 7:00PM LIVE Mentor vs. Solon

Replayed Saturday 11/10/07 11:00pm & Sunday 11/11/07 9:00am

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

They Should call STO Sports Time Cleveland. I thought STO was going to televise High School Playoff games from around the state, but I was wrong.

So far STO has shown only Cleveland Area Teams In Division I, all from Region 1 and both games at Byers Field(St. Ignatius vs. Glenville & Mentor Vs. Solon). At lest ONN showed games from all regions in Division I. If you live outside Cleveland it doesn't really matter if more home can view STO than ONN because no one outside Cleveland wants to watch Cleveland area teams each week.

There are two teams in Division I that are currently ranked in the top ten in all the High School Football polls across the country and they are both undefeated, St. Xavier and Colerain. I hope STO has the sense to televise this game this week, but I won't be suprised if they televise Glenville and Mentor.

I think STO has been Great. I was born and raised in Southern Ohio, and now live and work in Kentucky. If not for STO on dishnetwork, I would not get any of these playoff games. ONN was a bad situation, because not even all the residents in ohio had the option to get ONN. At least with STO you have the option (through Dish Network)